Misdeeds included a foreman and his crew driving to Pennsylvania, at least three times, "apparently to buy cigarettes," while claiming to be working; another foreman traveling to Pennsylvania, "apparently for fireworks"

Not to mention the porno mags, condoms, bottle of Old Harper, panty shields, and disposable enemas.

I'm glad that they're vigorously investigating malfeasance by low-level public employees. It is clearly much more important than investigating the corrupt and fraudulent practices of politicians and the financial industry fraudsters on wall street.

Chummer45:I'm glad that they're vigorously investigating malfeasance by low-level public employees. It is clearly much more important than investigating the corrupt and fraudulent practices of politicians and the financial industry fraudsters on wall street.

Chummer45:I'm glad that they're vigorously investigating malfeasance by low-level public employees. It is clearly much more important than investigating the corrupt and fraudulent practices of politicians and the financial industry fraudsters on wall street.

/two sets of rules in America.

This kind of corruption is one of the reasons the New York area, while still having excellent mass transit, doesn't have the transit that it really should have. Everything comes in overbudget for a lot of factors, but at least part of it is already well-paid public employees fleecing the taxpayer. It also isn't an either/or thing - while Andrew Cuomo has pulled every string he can to protect Jeff Klein and other corrupt Republicans in the state senate, the New York attorney general has already caught... God, I've lost count... A half-dozen? More? sitting state legislators and indicted them. He's also been using his limited state powers to go after Wall Street types, something the state attorneys general have been doing at least since Spitzer.

The "union problem" is overblown, but there are corrupt unions, just as there are corrupt corporations. We can, and do, go after both.

Most Metro-North workers are represented by the Association of Commuter Rail Employees. They're the ones that just got dumped from this month's derailment investigation for going public with details of the derailment investigation. Others, probably including the sleazeballs who got caught this time around, are represented by the Teamsters (Local 808, who used to be tight with the Genovese family iirc).

captainktainer:while Andrew Cuomo has pulled every string he can to protect Jeff Klein and other corrupt Republicans in the state senate, the New York attorney general has already caught... God, I've lost count... A half-dozen? More? sitting state legislators and indicted them. He's also been using his limited state powers to go after Wall Street types, something the state attorneys general have been doing at least since Spitzer.

The attorney general? Schneiderman? He comes straight from the Albany cesspit himself. He shows up after the legwork is done and the perps are walked to issue press releases taking credit for everything.

I think the name you're looking for who's been hauling in the crooks is Preet Bharara.

Most Metro-North workers are represented by the Association of Commuter Rail Employees. They're the ones that just got dumped from this month's derailment investigation for going public with details of the derailment investigation. Others, probably including the sleazeballs who got caught this time around, are represented by the Teamsters (Local 808, who used to be tight with the Genovese family iirc).

Most Metro-North workers are represented by the Association of Commuter Rail Employees. They're the ones that just got dumped from this month's derailment investigation for going public with details of the derailment investigation. Others, probably including the sleazeballs who got caught this time around, are represented by the Teamsters (Local 808, who used to be tight with the Genovese family iirc).

But these poor lads are only misunderstood angels, I'm sure.

but their supervisors aren't under the union. neither are their bosses. this goes all the way up the chain. it has to or it wouldn't have gone on so long. even the union can't protect you from not following the rules or falsifying reports.

captainktainer:Chummer45: I'm glad that they're vigorously investigating malfeasance by low-level public employees. It is clearly much more important than investigating the corrupt and fraudulent practices of politicians and the financial industry fraudsters on wall street.

/two sets of rules in America.

This kind of corruption is one of the reasons the New York area, while still having excellent mass transit, doesn't have the transit that it really should have. Everything comes in overbudget for a lot of factors, but at least part of it is already well-paid public employees fleecing the taxpayer. It also isn't an either/or thing - while Andrew Cuomo has pulled every string he can to protect Jeff Klein and other corrupt Republicans in the state senate, the New York attorney general has already caught... God, I've lost count... A half-dozen? More? sitting state legislators and indicted them. He's also been using his limited state powers to go after Wall Street types, something the state attorneys general have been doing at least since Spitzer.

The "union problem" is overblown, but there are corrupt unions, just as there are corrupt corporations. We can, and do, go after both.

I think we generally agree on all points, except what I was primarily referring to was the very high level corruption on wall street, which is closely interrelated to our broken political system. Our high level politicians, banks, and financial industry folks have the resources to pay people (including politicians) to defend them against accusations of misconduct and do PR on their behalf. The equally corrupt local guy doesn't have that.

I guess my point is that many people in this country seem to have no concept of this - or at least seem willing to buy the BS explanations and defenses spouted by big money shills (including politicians) that are designed to cover up or minimize fraud and wrongdoing that does far more damage to our economy than a local guy getting his beak wet.

Most Metro-North workers are represented by the Association of Commuter Rail Employees. They're the ones that just got dumped from this month's derailment investigation for going public with details of the derailment investigation. Others, probably including the sleazeballs who got caught this time around, are represented by the Teamsters (Local 808, who used to be tight with the Genovese family iirc).

But these poor lads are only misunderstood angels, I'm sure.

I didn't say they weren't unionized. I said the article didn't mention anything about unions.

Oddest coincidence, that. I would have thought the reactionary squad would be here to assure me that unions were all corrupt and contemptible, and that management, those benevolent creators of jobs and stewards of wealth, would surely reward us in gratitude if we just stopped looking to unions.

Wooly Bully:Look, if the union's somehow to blame for this, they deserve to be called out on it. But so far nobody has presented any evidence to support that claim.

New York's unions have a long and mostly-unsavory reputation, so while we shouldn't assume their hands are dirty just yet, it would be not shocking at all if they turned out to be so in this case. Not two weeks ago one of the unions got booted from the federal Bronx derailment investigation for not following the simplest of rules about active investigations.

I am not opposed to public employee unions - I am opposed to corrupt public-employee unions, and the b-b-b-b-b-b-b-butWallStreet blithering is quite beside the point here.

Gulper Eel:Wooly Bully: Look, if the union's somehow to blame for this, they deserve to be called out on it. But so far nobody has presented any evidence to support that claim.

New York's unions have a long and mostly-unsavory reputation, so while we shouldn't assume their hands are dirty just yet, it would be not shocking at all if they turned out to be so in this case. Not two weeks ago one of the unions got booted from the federal Bronx derailment investigation for not following the simplest of rules about active investigations.

I am not opposed to public employee unions - I am opposed to corrupt public-employee unions, and the b-b-b-b-b-b-b-butWallStreet blithering is quite beside the point here.

Yeah but isn't talking about corrupt public employee unions sort of beside the point too?

Chummer45:Yeah but isn't talking about corrupt public employee unions sort of beside the point too?

Not after the year the MTA has had. Four major crashes this year, and this latest revelation isn't even the only sleaze revealed this year.

If the falsification of time sheets is so widespread, you have to start wondering about the falsification of safety inspections too. Good thing somebody started wondering about that a few months ago, and found - find yourself a fainting couch - maintenance workers slacking on the job.

Gulper Eel:Chummer45: Yeah but isn't talking about corrupt public employee unions sort of beside the point too?

Not after the year the MTA has had. Four major crashes this year, and this latest revelation isn't even the only sleaze revealed this year.

If the falsification of time sheets is so widespread, you have to start wondering about the falsification of safety inspections too. Good thing somebody started wondering about that a few months ago, and found - find yourself a fainting couch - maintenance workers slacking on the job.

Yet another article that mentions "unions" a whopping zero times.Ah, I see. They're mentioned at the bottom, with a "declined to comment." It's clearly the smoking gun of MTA union corruption!

qorkfiend:Yet another article that mentions "unions" a whopping zero times.

It is obvious to the casual observer (in the New York metro area, anyway) that the workers belong to one of the aforementioned 17 unions. There aren't any rank-and-file workers that don't belong, far as I know.

Sybarite:Misdeeds included a foreman and his crew driving to Pennsylvania, at least three times, "apparently to buy cigarettes," while claiming to be working; another foreman traveling to Pennsylvania, "apparently for fireworks"

Not to mention the porno mags, condoms, bottle of Old Harper, panty shields, and disposable enemas.

Shoot, a fella could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff.

It is obvious to the casual observer (in the New York metro area, anyway) that the workers belong to one of the aforementioned 17 unions. There aren't any rank-and-file workers that don't belong, far as I know.

Some of them probably belong to the Catholic Church, too, but that doesn't make any of this the pope's fault.

Gulper Eel:Chummer45: Yeah but isn't talking about corrupt public employee unions sort of beside the point too?

Not after the year the MTA has had. Four major crashes this year, and this latest revelation isn't even the only sleaze revealed this year.

If the falsification of time sheets is so widespread, you have to start wondering about the falsification of safety inspections too. Good thing somebody started wondering about that a few months ago, and found - find yourself a fainting couch - maintenance workers slacking on the job.

I think all of them were due to negligence on the part of the conductor.

The MTA dragging ass on the federally mandated safety upgrade is a massive problem though.

It is obvious to the casual observer (in the New York metro area, anyway) that the workers belong to one of the aforementioned 17 unions. There aren't any rank-and-file workers that don't belong, far as I know.

I guess reading comprehension isn't your strong suit, as I've never claimed MTA workers aren't unionized. What I have said is that these two articles about MTA incompetence mention unions exactly once, and then only in passing, so it's a bit funny to see people immediately jump to "blame public employee unions".

Wooly Bully:Gulper Eel: Or maybe you just didn't do the extra 30 seconds of legwork.

Or maybe this story doesn't blame unions, which is why it's so laughable that right-wingers reflexively do just that.

Look, if the union's somehow to blame for this, they deserve to be called out on it. But so far nobody has presented any evidence to support that claim.

Everybody who's lived within 100 miles of NYC and been there once knows the public unions are corrupt.

It's just a generally accepted fact, like "new yorkers can ignore someone taking a dump in the middle of 5th Avenue" whereas if that happened in flyover country, there'd be a bunch of wrecks as people watched in horror while driving.